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2011-05-28

HTC is not locking Android bootloaders, any more

This [1] is a big deal: HTC won’t lock its Android bootloaders, any more. Quotes from the post:

HTC has thrown down the gauntlet with carriers. [...] Carriers use [...] exclusives as key opportunities to push their brand and establish and protect revenue streams, and a big part of that involves locking you into a branded ROM. In light of this announcement, HTC can no longer promise its carrier partners that it’ll play ball on that

They’re taking on some additional warranty liability (and bringing carriers along for the ride, whether they like it or not).

It’s a tacit admission that Sense isn’t for everyone.

What does this mean for users? If you are not a technical user, not much. If you are, though, it is a big deal: You’ll be able to easily root all HTC devices and, among other things, to get a pure Android experience. The announcement on Facebook has already lead to many comments.